Undergraduate Faking As Customs Auctioneer Nabbed 

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

The operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested an undergraduate of Ambrose Alli University,Ekpoma posing as an online Customs auctioneer, for cloning  the website of Lagos State College of Health Technology and allegedly duping several admission seekers of huge sums of money.

The suspect, Mayaki Best, 25, a 300 level student of the university, studying Library and Information Science, was on Wednesday arrested in Auchi, Edo State.

Mayaki was tracked to Edo State following a petition signed by the Provost of Lagos State College of Health Technology, Dr. Moyo Kasim on the fraudulent activities of one Dr. Odeh Philip Oteche, who cloned the website of the institution and requested for various sums of money from admission seekers.

The petition, which was addressed to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and later referred to the Commander Rapid Response Squad had cloned admission applications and bank details stating that applicants had to pay N2,500 for the admission form.

Mayaki who was in possession of the phone number given in the fraudulent bank details was arrested with three ATM cards, one of which carried Oteche Philip Odeh, the owner of the fraudulent account. The two other ATM cards of Access Bank and UBA bore, Abua Sunday.

In his confession to the police, Mayaki stated that he was the brain behind the cloning of the institution’s website and he had withdrawn series of deposits made to the accounts by different applicants.

He added that he veered into admission racketing when posing as online Customs auctioneer of automobiles and seized items failed to yield expected returns. Apart from these, the suspect disclosed that he also used local and international dating platforms for scamming unsuspecting members of the public online.

Through the cloned institution’s website, Mayaki stated that he had collected deposits ranging from N2,500 to N157,000 and added that one Charles and Ganiyu Balogun now at large were accomplices.

He stated that he opened Access Bank and UBA accounts with Sunday Abua when he posed as Nigerian Customs auctioneer for vehicles and goods. He also disclosed that the three Facebook accounts of female Customs officers he had been using and the pictures of automobiles he displayed were sourced from Google. Also found in his possession were different soft copies of blank Customs papers.

Commenting on the development, the Command image maker, Olarinde Famous– Cole stated that the Command will not spare those who hide in other locations in the country but commit crimes in Lagos. He added that the suspect had been transferred to the SCID for further investigation.